The Story of True Love
by XSoleadoX
Summary: To save her kingdom, she made a deal with the devil. Quickly she found out that Rumplestiltskin is far away from this term and her heart began to beat faster for him. But if Beauty can really find a love with the Beast?
1. Prologue

**A/N: The story follows the show (primarily episodes "Skin Deep" and "Lacey"), and I tried to fill the gaps from the show.**

**It also contains my own scenes, mostly inspired by the movie "Beauty & the Beast".**  
**So, it is AU, but only slightly :)**

**Rating: T+**

**Note: English is not my native language, so the story has a beta reader (archiveofourown/users/rumbellerbrit). Thank you, dearie! :***

**: : . . . : :**

**_Once upon a time…_**

**_In The Enchanted Forest..._**

He had been spinning today as he had done every day. He tried to spin the thoughts away, all these sad, painful memories, images so clear, despite the passage of many years. So he watched persistently the spinning wheel and tried to clear his mind. Images from the past had almost disappeared, his head had been almost a emptiness, when suddenly he heard a loud knock. He frowned. The knock came again and unpleasant thoughts darted to his head once again. He narrowed his eyes and stood, making the stool fall and with quick pace he went to the door, with the intention of changing the intruder into some hideous creature. A snail perhaps. He could have stepped on it. Or maybe a rat? He would toss it to the village and watch with amusement how the cats play with it. With this happy thought in head, he opened the door and bristled up when he noted nobody. The intruder escaped, so there was to be no trampling nor shredding by cats. What a pity… He felt disappointed. He had a really bad day and this was something, which could have improved his mood. At least for a little while.

He looked around, but it was no sign of the interloper. However, on the ground he noticed a white envelope with a big coat of arms in the corner. He picked it up and, to have at least a little bit of fun, he conjured a fire ball and burned the envelope to ashes. With reluctance he reached for the letter, which had been saved by the magical flames, and hurriedly he scanned it.

_The Dark One,_

_Help us! Our kingdom is falling, we are not able to win the Ogre's War. You are our only and the last hope! You have to to help us! We are dying! Can you save us? Please, we will pay you with every ingot of gold we possess._

He really didn't feel like it, but the possibility of making a deal was very tempting. Very, very tempting. He loved deals. He made them, whenever he could. So why not make a deal also now? All the more that it was about the ogres. He hated them. In the past he killed a lot of the hideous creatures and he would kill more of them with pleasure. But this price… gold. They had to be kidding. Don't they know that he spun gold? He didn't need more of it. He contemplated, what in that case he needed, what his price could have been. _Hmm…_ Suddenly a idea struck his head and on his face appeared a sly smile. He would bring a housekeeper to his Dark Castle, but not a real housekeeper, oh no. He would bring some dignified young lady, who doesn't know how to perform the duties of housekeeper. She would make mistakes and he could mock her to his own delight. And by the way, he would get someone to do the dirty work. _Perfect._

A second later in the place, where he was standing, remained just a letter, now slowly falling to the ground.

**_: : . . . : :_**

**A second later…**

He was looking at the castle. Quite big, even comparing to his own. Although this one certainly wasn't as beautiful. His castle was beautiful, oh yeah. He had been looking for the right one for a long time, but finally he found it. A castle hidden among mountains and forests, solitary… Surrounded by high wall and multiple towers. A perfect place for him. He only changed the inside a little bit, added to it more… charm. And darkness. After all it was now the castle of the Dark One. The castle of the one and only Rumplestiltskin. So it had to look properly. This one, however, was very ordinary and unremarkable._ Probably like the entire kingdom_, he thought.

He quickly stopped his thoughts, after all he hadn't come here to compare castles. He only wanted to make a deal.

He moved ahead with a proud and stepped inside, depriving consciousness several guards in the meantime. Just a small twist of his wrist and they fell unconscious. Fast and easy. _Magic can be wonderful, indeed..._

He reached gate of the throne room, knocked on it and waited. When the doors opened, the corridor was already empty. When everyone were looking at the emptiness, Rumplestiltskin leaned back on the throne, keeping a nonchalant pose, being unnoticed by anyone. _The show begins!_

"Well, that was a bit of a letdown." – he said with a high-pitched tone. In one second everyone turned back to him. Rumplestiltskin looked around quickly. The King was here, obviously. A few guards. Some tall, handsome prat, a knight apparently. And a girl. Beautiful girl in the golden dress and with a chestnut, curly hair. Could it be the daughter of the king? Undoubtedly. _Excellently. She will do perfectly._

He looked at the king. "You sent me a message. Something about, um, Help, help! We're dying! Can you save us?", he said, making a lot of gesticulation with a theatrical manner. "Now, the answer is…" He made a dramatic pause and raised up on his feet, moving in the direction of the tall knight, who was pointing at him with the sword. Did this fool really thought that he could have defeated the Dark One with something like that? A good one! He pushed the sword away. "Yes, I can. Yes, I can protect your little town..." He made another pause. The tension was delightful for him. Everyone were looking at him with anticipation and he really loved that. Their fate was in his hands and he loved to have a real power over someone. So, now was the time for the price. He pointed the finger at the king. "For a price", he said.

"We sent you a promise of gold." the king responded immediately, as if he really had thought that that was the thing which the Dark One needed. However, Rumplestiltskin quickly corrected him. "Ah… No. You see, um… I, uh, make gold. What I want is something a bit more special." His words only made the tension bigger and king had no idea what to expect. "My price…is her." Rumplestiltskin pointed at girl in golden dress. That left everybody in shock, just like he expected.

"No." the king stated terrified and the knight added "The young lady is engaged to me." and he moved her behind his back. _Engaged? Engaged?! As if I cared!_ passed through the Dark One's mind. He walked them around and turned his back on them. "I wasn't asking if she was engaged. I'm not looking for love" at the last word he touched his heart theatrically and he turned back. "I'm looking for a caretaker for my rather large estate." He moved his hands trying to show their size, then he pointed at the girl. "It's her, or no deal."

The king was angry and he started to yell, "Get out. Leave!". He was clearly not going to change his mind. Pity. Yet, something was telling him that this was not over yet. The whole time he watched the girl out of the corner of his eye and she was clearly pondering about something.

"As you wish." He said lightly to the king and began to move toward the gate. The knight moved beautiful girl aside and Rumplestiltskin passed them.

"No, wait." The girl suddenly said, when Rumple almost reached the gate. He stopped obediently and turned back with a smirk. The girl approached him, leaving everyone in shock. No wonder. Every normal girl would have been grateful to her father that he didn't want to give her, especially to someone like that. _So what is wrong with this girl?_ _Could it be a desperate soul?_ Rumple suddenly felt intrigued.

During that time, the girl stood a front of him and declared "I will go with him."

"I forbid it!" the knight had shouted and girl turned to him. "No one decides my fate but me. I shall go." She said firmly.

„It's forever, dearie." Rumple warned her, but it seemed to have no impression on girl. "My family, my friends – they will all live?" she asked and only that seemed to be important to her. _A desperate soul certainly…_

"You have my word." He answered and bowed slightly, and she nodded her head. "Then, you have mine. I will go with you… forever." She said and with these words she made a deal with him. A deal with the devil. _Naïve, stupid girl. The desperate soul or not, soon enough you will regret your reckless decision_, he thought devilishly and smiled to himself. "Deal." He said and jumped in place with excitement.

Her father was of course devastated. "Belle! Belle" he called to her. _So this is her name. Nice, it suits her…_, the thought crossed Rumple's mind and he immediately throw it away. "Belle, you cannot do this. Belle, please." he tried to beg her. Belle approached him and touched his cloak affectionately. "You can't go with this…" King looked at the Dark One, searching for matching term. He looked closer at his hideous skin, reminding of the crocodile skin, and he noted his unnatural, huge, reptilian eyes and he immediately had found the right word for it. "Beast." He finished his sentence, pronouncing it with disgust. Hearing this, Rumple touched his heart theatrically and opened his mouth feigns offense.

"Father. Gaston." Belle started with a sad voice. She knew that her decision hurt them, especially her father. She didn't care about Gaston anyway, but she cared about her papa. But she was determined, she knew what she's doing. At least she thought so. "It's been decided." She said as firmly as she could, and this seemed to finally convince her father, whose face became even more sad right now. It just hit him that he had lost his daughter.

Rumple decided to end this farce, which lasted too long now. "You know…" he started, moving closer to the king and his daughter. He stood right next to her, definitely in her personal space, and pointed a finger at her. "She's right. The deal... is struck." he added a hand gesture to his words, as if showing a signature on the contract.

"Oh! Congratulations on your little war." he said with a bright tone and smile at his face, after a few seconds of silence. He laughed maniacally with his victory, placed his palm at the Belle's waist, turned her and they both headed to the exit.

_Time to start the game!_

**_: : . . . : :_**

When they left the castle, Rumple grabbed her upper arm and made a oval shape in the air. A purple smoke had surrounded them and Belle closed her eyes. After while she opened them and noted that she was now in a different, unknown to her place. She looked around curiously. They were standing before big gate, surrounded from both sides with the forest and behind them was a snowy trail leading through the mountains. Rumplestiltskin walked through the gates and Belle quickly had followed him. The place was really nice, she had to admit. Between the gate and the castle was a large backyard, divided into two parts by the paved path, and in many places were multiple flags hooked on high masts. Here and there were towers and some of them protruded from the castle. She had to admit that this castle was making a really good impression, you could definitely not feel that it belonged to a really dark soul.

She suddenly realized that she had stood in one place while Rumplestiltskin was already almost by the doorway. She stopped to admire the yard and quickly run up to catch up with him. She was surprised when he opened the door without even touching it, he just waved his hand and the door swung open. He went inside without looking back and when Belle did that as well, the door slammed behind her, causing her to jump in surprise.

Rumple had already walked through the next doors, so Belle again ran up to keep up with him. They were now in a spacious room that looked like a combination of living room with the dining room. It was kept in maroon and beige colors, and was full of ornaments. She noticed many paintings hanging on the walls, the dining table standing in the middle of the room and with only one chair, and in the corner she noticed a spinning wheel placed on the small platform. On her left side was gorgeous fireplace, creating a small light and pleasant warmth. Belle also noticed a few pedestals situated beside the walls, and on each were standing different objects, but unfortunately she had no time to look at them closer.

Although she should have felt scared, she was somehow excited. She had not expected such a interior decoration and now she couldn't wait to explore the rest of the castle.

She looked ahead at the monster walking in front of her. His pace was still fast, so she had to run up again.

"Uh, where… Where are you taking me?" she asked, realizing that she had no idea where they are going.

"Let's call it your room." He simply answered.

They went through the big doors, placed in the opposite corner to the spinning wheel. Belle shivered. They were walking now down the gloomy, dark corridor, illuminated only by slight light of the candlesticks hanging here and there on the walls. The difference was huge. There were no decorations or windows, only cold, stone walls.

They walked down the stairs on the end of the corridor and turned to the right. Rumplestiltskin stopped in front of the only doors there and he opened them with a wave of his hand. Belle moved closer and looked inside. _It's… What?!..._ "My room?!" she raised her voice in annoyance and sent a scowl to the Dark One, who was looking at her with amusement.

"Well, it sounds a lot nicer than dungeon." he said flippantly and grabbed her by arm, throwing her inside with maniacal laughter. Belle fell on her knees and he quickly bolted the door and laughed even more maniacally. Belle tried to pound in the door and scream, but it was pointless.

Her fate had been sealed.


	2. Chapter 1 - The Dark Castle

Her first night in Rumplestiltskin's castle was now coming to an end. Belle lay on the small straw bed, curled into ball. The cell was in almost complete darkness, light could hardly go through two small barred windows. And moreover, it was damp there from the cold, stone walls. What kind of monster orders a princess to sleep in a dungeon?! But she could have expected that. After all, how foolish she would have been if she would thought that she would get a huge bedroom with four-poster bed with silk sheets… She agreed to go with him to serve him as his housekeeper. To be a servant. And people like that don't get any comfort.

Then she thought it a good decision. Besides, it was the only way to save her kingdom. She had always worried about others, putting their well-being above her own. And where had it led her? She willingly gave herself to be imprisoned by the beast, probably she just destroyed her whole life. What was she thinking? That she would become some kind of hero, who had sacrificed herself for the bigger good? That people would admire her and she would go down in history? No one would remember her, and if someone did, then as a naïve king's daughter, who fled from a marriage and duty of taking the crown… Although on the other hand, she never could imagine living with Gaston. Not only he was arrogant, but also he hated books and he clearly said that after the wedding, he would destroy her entire collection. And he kept saying how he can't wait to make the marital duties… and going to bed with Gaston was the last thing she was willing to do. She felt sick even at the thought of it. However, would life with Rumplestiltskin be better? Well, even if not, at least her kingdom was safe now...

She sighed and slowly sat up, dropping her feet on the cold floor and stretching her neck.

She hadn't slept all night. She was tormented by unpleasant thoughts, a terrible visions about her future. She was shivering on all her body at the thought of today. It would be her first day in her new job, in fact in her first job ever, and as if that was not enough, her boss was the greatest beast… What if she did something wrong and Rumplestiltskin punished her by torturing her? What if…

She suddenly heard a thud. She instantly jumped out of bed and stand under the wall, as the far as possible from the door, diligently listening to any noises and expecting to see Rumplestiltskin at any moment. She clung with her whole body to the cold stone, trying to calm her rapid breathing.

After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, the door swung open with a bang. For a moment Belle had impression that the time stood still. She could only hear beating of her own heart and everywhere around was a deaf silence. She took a deep breath and slowly, step by step, she started to approach closer to the door. She tried to put the feet as quietly as possible and to walk as carefully as.

Then, when only a few paces separated her from the door, suddenly in front of her magically appeared Rumplestiltskin. With surprise she jumped with a squeal and for a second she had a feeling that her heart stopped. When she could breathe again, she looked at the monster in front of her. From so close distance and in so weak light he was even more terrifying. His face was illuminated by the light, so she could take a close look at his unnatural, kinda wet slimy skin, at his horrid sharp teeth clearly visible in a cynical smile that was stretching across his face and at his huge reptilian eyes giving the impression of drilling the soul of the person to whom they looked at.

She realized that she was staring at him from a long while, only when he spoke. "I hope I didn't scare you, dearie?" His high-pitched voice with a manic hint had paralyzed her even more. She wanted to step back, but she was not able to move. She had been staring into his eyes, and even despite that they were terrifying, she could not take her eyes from his. At one point it seemed to disconcert him. He cleared his throat and stepped back ordering her with his hand to follow him. "Time to take care with your duties, after all you are not here to sit and laze!" he shouted, briskly climbing to the stairs and Belle followed him obediently, trying to keep up with him. She had been trying to remain calm, but she failed. She had a big lump in her throat and her heart clearly wanted to jump out of her chest.

They walked through the living room, at the end of which were the big doors. She remembered from the previous day that behind them was a hall and the marble staircase leading to the upstairs and there was also a doorway there. However, now they didn't go through this door but they turned to the right where were almost identical doors. Behind them was a long, bright corridor, which quite surprised her. The walls here were made from colorful stones and on the floor was lying a long carpet in cherry color and with creamy patterns on it. On one side were windows which were, just like these in the living room, closely covered. The corridor was lit only by big candlesticks placed on window sills. That made Belle ponder. _Why are all the windows covered, even now in the daylight? Is it possible that this monster is hiding some complexes? Is he afraid of looking at himself in the mirror? _(as she noticed before, there was one mirror in the living room and it was covered with a big sheet)._ Why doesn't he want to bring some sunlight in here and to reveal a view of these beautiful mountains…?_

Because of her thoughtfulness she almost collided with Rumplestiltskin when he suddenly stopped. She cleared her throat nervously, but it seemed that he hadn't noticed her wool-gathering. He waved his hand and the door, against which they stood, swung open and Rumplestiltskin stepped inside. Belle came behind him and jumped when suddenly the door slammed. She shot him an angry and reproachful look. _This bastard wants me to have a heart attack!_ As if he had heard her thoughts, he turned sharply, again causing her heart to beat faster. "This is the kitchen, as surely you've already noticed…" he sneered. Well, yes, instead of looking around she was staring at his back. She made up for it now, casting a quick glance around.

It was a kitchen indeed. Not very pleasant, though. But at least there was an uncovered window here._ Finally a little bit of sunlight…_

**: : . . . : :**

This kitchen was definitely smaller and different from the one in her castle. Although it was not a place for her, as a little girl she liked to look in every nook and cranny of the castle, so she sometimes went to the kitchen. She remembered that there were always several people there, from large pots floated clouds of steam, one of the tables was full of ingredients needed to prepare meals and under one of the walls was a large shelf filled with jars of different spices. Also, as for the place where you cook and bake, it was quite clean. She could also remembered one of the cooks, a polite old woman, who had always given her some snacks…

She felt tears come to her eyes, so she quickly pulled sentimental thoughts aside and looked around carefully. She noticed a large dust covered on each piece of furniture. _It seems that Rumplestiltskin doesn't like cleaning._ _What a surprise... _Belle was even prone to assumption that she was the first housekeeper in this castle. Perhaps she was even a first person who was here for any other purpose than businesses with the Dark One or being tortured by him…

When she had been looking around, her attention was suddenly caught by the only nice thing in this room - the porcelain teapot with a couple of cups, saucers and a tray. The whole set was really beautiful, white with blue patterns, polished and lustrous. Her long gazing at it didn't go unnoticed by Rumplestiltskin. "You like it, dearie?" He waited until she looked at him and when their eyes met he shouted "And good! You will use this often, so you better start getting used to it!" he laughed maniacally and so loud that his high voice echoed around the small, marble room. Belle shivered again.

Rumple approached her slowly but stopped in safe distance. For a moment he watched her carefully. Belle had never liked that, and now she reacted as she always did: staring at the floor.

She looked up as the Dark One spoke. This time he didn't raise his voice and there wasn't the weird excitement in it, his voice was now rather calm and cold. At least at the beginning. "It's time for your first task. Think of it as a little test... You will prepare me a cup of tea!" saying the last part he giggled and pointed a finger to a small display case in the opposite corner. Then he sat on a wooden stool standing near the door and he started to stare at Belle. Feeling his watchful gaze she began to blush, she cleared her throat and slightly unsteadily walked to the display case. Inside were many sachets of tea, lying loosely on shelves. _Who would have thought that such a beast relishes in drinking tea… _She took out one of them, carefully closing the display case. During this, she looked at her hands and noticed that they were shaking. From the corner of her eye she also noticed that Rumple was still attentively staring at her, tracking her every movement with his amber eyes. She swallowed as quietly as she could and she started to brew the tea, trying to control her shaking hands. Luckily she knew how to prepare the tea. He would have probably mocked her if she didn't.

At one point Rumplestiltskin got up and went to the door, only saying when he left, "I will be waiting in the living room. And hurry up, because I'm not going to wait long!"

As soon as he left, Belle loudly exhaled. She had been trying so much to control herself next to him, that she almost ran out of breath. She had impression that this whole situation extremely amused him. All her fear and uncertainty… As if it was some sort of entertainment for him. Such one between torturing people and making the deals, of course.

With every second she had growing doubts about whether she made the right decision...

**: : . . . : :**

The tea brewed up quite quickly, so abandoning further grim thoughts, she hastily poured it into a teapot, took a tray with everything what was standing on it and she walked out of the kitchen walking toward the living room. She tried to walk as fast as possible, so as not to upset the Dark One. After all, he said her to be hurry up.

Fortunately the way from kitchen to the living room was easy, so she had no problems with getting there. When she stepped inside, Rumplestiltskin was already sitting comfortably at the table. And again he watched her closely. She walked somewhat unsteadily to the table, put down the tray and began to pour the tea into the cup. During this time, Rumplestiltskin began to dictate her her future tasks. "You will serve me my meals, and you will clean the Dark Castle." He made a pause and Belle nodded. „You will dust my collection and launder my clothing." Another pause and another nod.

For now these tasks seemed to be normal, nothing special for a housekeeper. Well, maybe except for the fact that Belle wasn't a housekeeper and she had never cleaned, cooked or laundered… "You will fetch me fresh straw when I'm spinning at the wheel." He continued and Belle nodded again, lifting the cup with the intention to offer it to Rumplestiltskin, and he raised his finger, as if he suddenly remembered about something. "Oh! And you will skin the children I hunt for their pelts."

With horror and shock Belle dropped the cup onto the floor. _What? Skin the children... No, no! It's impossible!_ Her thoughts were screaming.

"That one was a quip – not serious." He said with a smirk and giggled slightly. Belle breathed a sigh of relief. It was cruel of him, but at least he wasn't talking serious… She kneeled to pick up the cup and fearfully noticed that it was broken.

Rumple slightly leaned out from behind the table, looking curiously at Belle. She was watching the cup while turning it in her hands. "I'm so sorry, but, uh… It's… It's chipped. Y-You can hardly see it." She was stuttering with embarrassment and she looked at him apologetically.

Her reaction had to be very odd for Rumplestiltskin, because his face turned into a very intrigued expression. He stared at her for a moment, then slightly spread his hands. "Well, it's just a cup." he said in a tone as if talking about a trifle.

Belle smiled with a sense of relief. She was afraid that she upset him, after all she had destroyed such a beautiful porcelain cup... Well, it's good, that he didn't consider it something important... She had thought, however, that he would punish each display of her incompetence, even if only for his own amusement, after all he was the Dark One. So why didn't he? Not that she complained at such a turn of events, but this puzzled her. It's not the way she had imagined him, not after all the stories she had heard about him...

_Hmm…_


	3. Chapter 2 - Thief

It had been two weeks since she arrived to the Dark Castle. Although she was terrified at first, now she was feeling more at ease and besides since the incident with the cup, Rumplestiltskin had almost ceased to mock her.

Her daily routine was simple: she made a breakfast, they ate it (he insisted on shared meals and she didn't mind) and she talked about books and although he wasn't too talkative, he listened to her attentively and she knew it. Then he started to spin and she was cleaned. She dusted and swept the floors until dinner, which they had been eating together too. Then he was spinning again or locking himself in his workroom or in his chamber, and she was doing the laundry or more cleaning (the castle was really, really dusty). She had been taking breaks when she felt tired and then she read books. Unfortunately, she was only able to find a few. She also had been taking breaks when he asked for tea. He really loved the tea, she noted.

Sometimes Rumplestiltskin left the castle to go make deals. In such moments, Belle took the opportunity to explore the castle. She was always a very curious person and the castle was like a big mystery for her. And she loved the feeling of discovering the new.

By now, she had actually explored almost the entire building. It wasn't as big as she had initially thought, but it was still a very interesting place. And it was so different from her family castle. Here there was a much greater splendor, entering the living room you immediately felt that the owner was rich. And he was, in a certain sense. You could probably call him the richest man in the world, as he could make gold, not to mention his witchcraft.

Belle also drew attention to a certain disparity between the different rooms. Yes, the living room was magnificent, Rumplestiltskin's bedroom (yes, she sneaked there once) was even grander and his bathroom… it was simply beautiful. All these rooms were painted in warm colors and decorated with lots of things: huge carpets, lavishly decorated tapestries, various paintings on the walls, candlesticks, big gold chandeliers… Also the square on the front of the castle was as impressive, which made Belle think that it was maintained by magic, because she wasn't allowed to go outside (which of course didn't mean that she hadn't been going outside, during his absence, but she never dared to venture out of the square). However all the other rooms were dark, gloomy and without any decorations. Apparently he didn't care about the rooms, which he hadn't been using.

The castle had a simple construction, so she quickly stopped to digress. In the living room were three doors: one leading to the dungeons, second leading to the corridor with kitchen, bathroom (which she had been calling her bathroom, as Rumplestiltskin was always using his own), laundry and pantry, and there were the third doors leading to the foyer. In the middle of the hall was a round table and there were also a big, marble statues in the corners and even a stuffed bear. A bear! It was so strange and terrifying... She was scared every time when she needed to dust that damn bear. She had chills just thinking about it.

From the hall there was also a marble staircase leading to the first floor and separating into two directions on the middle. On the left was a corridor, painted in cherry color just as the living room. At the end was Rumplestiltskin's bedroom, and the huge oak door leading to it was really beautifully decorated. At the beginning of the corridor was another door, but it was locked. Between them and the Dark One's chamber was a deep recess and the winding staircase with the doors at the top. Belle looked in there once, but had found only an empty, dark room, covered with cobwebs. In turn, in the right corridor branching from the hall were only two doors and they both were locked. She suspected that behind one of them was Rumplestiltskin's workroom. And there was yet one more locked door, opposite to the door leading to the living room. She had never asked him about any of the locked doors as she also never had tried to open them. She didn't want to expose to his anger, after all.

Overall, there were not many rooms in this castle, much less than in her family house. There were plenty of rooms for servants, while this castle clearly was not designed for habitation by so many people. Belle actually liked this place, in her opinion the Dark Castle was much nicer and, in a sense, more cozy. Well, maybe except for the dungeons, which, including with small torture rooms, occupied the entire basement. She had been trying to walk there only when it was necessary. These rooms were dreadful and if someone would have see them, they would have immediately thought that the owner was a beast. A horrible, inhuman monster. _Which probably wouldn't have been so far from the truth…_ Because, although he had never acted beastly against her, she still had in her head the stories about him. For sure, not all of them were true, but all stories contain a fraction of the truth.

But although her life here wasn't bad, she still felt desperate. She missed her family and home. She felt lonely and missed her conversations with friends or even with his father. Her conversations with Rumplestiltskin were more like monologues. She spoke, and he listened. When he was in a good spirit she could actually talk with him, have a two-way conversation, but those were rare situations. And there was no one else in the castle. Sometimes there were visitors, coming here to dealing with Rumplestiltskin, but she was not allowed to talk to them, she couldn't even show to them. She was alone and she had never before felt so lonely in her life…

During the day, she tried to occupy her mind, so she swept the floors, cooked, did laundry, explored. But in the night she had nothing to occupy her mind and the only thing she could have done was lie in the hard bed in her dark, cold cell, which she wasn't even allowed to decorate. Then unpleasant thoughts had been appeared in her head and didn't want to leave. In these moments Belle spontaneously started to sob. Over time more thoughts were appeared, her heart aching with grief and sobs changed into howls. She couldn't help it…

And this night was no different…

**: : . . . : :**

Rumple was spinning, trying to sort out his thoughts. He needed to carefully reconsider the situation and possible actions and their probable consequences. After nearly three hundred years of waiting, his plan was finally almost to the final stage. However, some complications appeared, so now he needed to gather his thoughts and analyze everything. If only he could hear those thoughts...

He was slowly beginning to have enough of this girl. She yowled every night. At first he had been ignoring that, but then he felt bad because of it. He felt stings of remorse for several days and wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible. So when one day he realized that Belle always spent her free time reading books from the cabinet in the living room, he came up with the idea of how to soothe his conscience.

He then closed himself all day in an empty, unused tower and he worked hard with his magic to fill the room with bookstands and the bookstands with various books. Then he created a table with chairs, a cozy fireplace and a comfortable couch. He planned to show her this place as soon as the opportunity appeared he didn't want to make it look like a gift, after all...

Today, however, he was busy with his own affairs, and at the moment he tried to focus on his thoughts, what he was not able to do because of her howling. He stood up, angrily nudging the reel, and he headed hatefully toward the noise.

He stepped inside and not giving Belle time to react, he began to speak. "When you so eagerly agreed to come and work for me, I assumed you wouldn't miss your family quite so much."

Belle got up from her bunk and wiped away her tears. "I made my sacrifice for them. Of-of course I miss them, you beast!" She responded him with voice full of reproachful.

"Yes, yes, of course." A beast? She had never called him a beast, at least not aloud. She had no reasons for that, right? He even created a library for her… of which she had no idea of course, but that's not the point. Somehow he didn't want her to call him a beast, it sounded almost painful, which was weird as he didn't mind when others had called him that… But then, he was a beast, and who was he trying to fool? She had all the reasons to call him a beast; he ripped her from her family, made her his maid and he threw her into cold, dark dungeon... He really was a beast…

He suddenly felt irritated and felt the urge to go back to his wheel. But then, he was not able to spin when she was wailing like that. "But the crying must stop." he said firmly, but he decided that he must also add some reason. "Night after night! It's making it very difficult for me to spin. You know, I do my best thinking then." He said and looked at her, checking if she understood the message. Apparently not, as her look was full of incomprehension and her eyes filled with new tears. In that moment, Rumple felt something strange. Something like… sting of regret? _Not again… _He was not longer able to look at her teary eyes and her face wet from the previous ones, so he waved his hand and conjured a pillow. "Perhaps this'll help?" he asked hopefully.

Belle was flabbergasted and she could only manage a question "For me?". Rumplestiltskin threw her the pillow and ironically asked "Not quite so beastly now, am I?". Belle already regained self-assurance, so she decided to be sarcastic as well. "Thank you. Maybe now I can actually get some sleep."

Rumple, who was already heading to the door, paused and turned around to face her. He couldn't leave this without retort, let alone let her think that he gave her the pillow, because he felt sorry for her. Even if this was the reason why he did that… But he needed to keep up his appearances. He once knew a person to which appearances were very important. And he knew it himself. If people were to think that the Dark One had some heart, they would cease to fear him. And he couldn't let that happen, could he?  
"No, no, no. It's not to help you sleep, dearie. It's to muffle the cries so I can get back to work!" he almost screamed and again felt that stupid sting of regret, when Belle's face was suddenly very close to bursting into tears. But before he could say or do anything else, they heard the sound of glass shattering in the living room. Rumple immediately left the cell and Belle without a second thought followed him.

**: : . . . : : **

In the living room they saw a thief with bow, trying to stole the magic wand from the pedestal. In the moment when he touched it, the Dark One's voice sounded right next to him. "Are you sure you wanna do this, dearie?"  
The thief took his hood off. "Pretty sure." he responded firmly, even a little bit arrogantly. Belle was surprised by this man's attitude. Speaking in such a way to the Dark One? This surely couldn't end well…  
For now however, Rumple seemed to be content with the situation, treating it as some kind of entertainment. "If you don't know how to use that wand, it can do nasty things to you." He said to the stranger with some joyful satisfaction in voice.  
The thief hid the wand to his quiver, from which he took out an arrow. "Well, then... I'll stick to what I know works. Do you know what this arrow can do to you?" saying that, he strung his bowstring, but Rumple still seemed to treat the whole situation not very seriously. "Has to hit me first." He said gaily and teleported to the other side of the room. The thief turned the bow in his direction. "Shouldn't be a problem. An arrow fired from this bow always finds its target." he lowered the bow for a second and added with a smirk "Don't you just love magic?". He strung his bowstring again and fired the arrow. Rumple teleported again, materializing next to the thief, but the arrow hit him right in the heart.  
Rumple looked like he was about to hit the floor, while the man just walked past him, only saying "I know I do."

Belle was petrified. Yes, he is a monster, but to be killed by some stupid pilferer?! Even he doesn't deserve that!  
She started to run towards him, but she stopped when he suddenly appeared before the thief. "As do I!" he said and pulled the arrow out of his chest. The arrow disappeared in the purple cloud and Rumple giggled. Now he seemed to be genuinely pleased. "But don't you know? All magic comes with a price! And in your case-" he pointed his hands at thief and then at himself "that's me."

**: : . . . : :**

Belle knew that it was over. Now the thief wouldn't be able to escape, the Dark One wouldn't release him, that was for sure. _Well, good that he didn't kill Rumplestiltskin, but he made a big mistake breaking here…_  
Rumple grabbed him by his clothes in a rough manner, taking his bow and throwing it to Belle, by the way giving her a order to do something productive. Thief in turn, he led down to the dungeons.  
As it quickly could be heard, the thief landed in one of torture rooms. His screams were heard in the entire castle. Belle had been trying to ignore that and focus on sweeping the floor, but the dark thoughts didn't want to leave her head. She actually started to think that Rumplestiltskin maybe wasn't such a beast, but now? Now she knew that he was. Only a monster is capable to torture another person…  
Suddenly he showed in the living room, declaring as if nothing had happened, that he's gonna need a new apron._Yeah, of course he needs a new apron if this one is all stained with blood…_ she thought bitterly.  
Rumple throw the gloves on the table and started to untie the apron. Belle cleared her throat and started to go toward the table. "They're on the line drying. It'll be some time." she said truthfully but hesitantly. The Dark One seemed to not care. He took off the apron and throw it on the table, almost hitting Belle with it in the process. She managed to dodge in the last second.  
"Fine, fine. Get to cleaning this one as well. I'll be back later." he said and headed toward the exit. Belle knew that this is her last chance to say something, to try to change his mind. "All this because he tried to steal a magic wand?" she asked with kinda accusingly tone.  
"No, because he tried to steal from ME." He turned to her, while gesticulating a lot. "The Dark One! You try that, you get skinned alive. Everyone knows that."  
"Actually, no, They don't."  
Rumple was surprised by this answer. After all, everyone should know about that! How this is even possible, that someone doesn't know that?! "Well they will after they discover the body." he said with theatrical gesture, then maniacally giggled and quickly walked away.

**: : . . . : :**

Belle knew that she had to do something. Yes, he was a thief, but she had a hunch that he was doing this for a good reason. No one would have been stupid enough to break in to the Dark One's castle and try to steal from him, if he didn't have a good reason for that. And she felt that this reason was not money or practicing magic. No, there must be something more behind this...  
She went to the room in which was hung a thief, handcuffed and whole in his own blood, barely conscious and with tears in eyes. "What? Did he send you to finish the job?" he bitterly hissed through his teeth, trying to stifle a scream from the terrible pain radiating through his whole body.  
"No, no. Not at all." she quickly denied and approached him, moving to his lips a cup of water. "Here, drink this." When he took a few sips, she put down the cup on the side and began to unwind a line, which was holding him in the air. "I couldn't let this continue, it's inhuman."  
"I-I couldn't agree more. But I fear now he'll turn his wrath on you."  
"If he does, I'll stand up to the beast that he is…" The line finally let go and the thief fell on the floor. Belle moved closer to him. "Because no one... no one deserves to be tortured." she finished her sentence and started to unbutton his handcuffs.  
"Well, he may beg to differ."  
"Well, I don't care. He doesn't frighten me." When she said that, the stranger looked at her with astonishment. _No wonder, he probably thinks I'm crazy…_ she thought. "Hurry up. He'll be back soon. Hurry." Belle urged him and helped him to raise on his feet. The man began to go toward door, when he suddenly stopped and turned around. "But he will… he will kill you. Unless… unless you run away with me." in his voice sounded genuine concern. It seemed that this was not a man who would have let an innocent person die, especially a person who saved his life. Belle however knew that she couldn't do that, she couldn't escape…  
"I can't run. I made a deal to serve him, in exchange for him protecting my kingdom and my family from the Ogres. If I were to leave, I might survive, but my family surely won't." she explained him and suddenly felt a sting in heart.  
"Then all I can do is wish you luck."  
"Thank you. Now go. Go!" The thief ran out and Belle was left alone.

**: : . . . : :**

She had no idea when Rumplestiltskin would come back, so she took a book which she started to read earlier and she sat on the couch in the living room, trying to focus on reading and not thinking about what the Dark One could do to her. He had never punished her, never hurt her, but now she really disobeyed to him. She was sure that he would be angry and she had never saw him angry before. Would he really punish her? Start to torture her, maybe even kill her? She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. She had no idea what to expect and that was making her really anxious. Would he skin her, like he was doing with the thief? Or maybe he wouldn't even bother with tortures and would just transform her into some bug…?  
When she suddenly heard opening of the front door, her heart began to pound. Before she was sure of her decision, she felt courage, but now? Now all of this disappeared and she was simply terrified.  
Rumplestiltskin walked to the living room and without a word started to sharpen a huge knife, after which he went to the dungeon. She knew that this was it. In a moment he would discover the lack of prisoner and then his wrath will begin… She had heard stories about his wrath and they weren't good…  
When she heard a scream, the only thing she could think of was to hope he wouldn't be too brutal to her. She could might have pretended to be a brave person, but truly, she was scared like hell and the thought of the pain which the Dark One would cause her within seconds, only deepened her fear.  
"Where is he?!" he screamed when he burst into living room, walking angrily in her direction. Belle straightened, trying to not show her fear. "Gone. I let him go." she said and even managed to keep her voice calm.  
"What? He was a thief!"  
"Which doesn't give you the right to kill him."  
"It gives me every right!" She could say that Rumplestiltskin was furious, he was yelling and gesticulating a lot with nerves. "Oh, let me guess. You think he's a hero, stealing from me for some noble cause. You read too many books, dearie!" He waved his hand and the book, which she was holding in hands, disappeared. "Maybe that'll stop filling your head with poisonous thoughts!"  
"I didn't free him because of what I read in my books. I saw good in him. That man only wanted to escape with his life." she tried to explain herself.  
"Oh, is that what you thought?" He walked to the pedestal on which previously was lying the magical wand and which was standing empty now. "Our thief escaped with more than his life."  
Belle stood up and looked at the pedestal. _How could I not notice that?!_ she scolded herself in thoughts.  
"You were tricked. You foolish, gullible girl!"  
"Th... there must be an explanation…" She was sure there was. This man was so grateful for rescue, he even wanted to take her with him… It had to be some reason why, despite of everything, he stole the wand. It just had to be. She couldn't be mistaken so much, could she? Risking her own life for a common thief? After all to now, she was always right about people… "We... we don't know why he needed that wand."  
"He took the wand because he wanted magic!" Rumple went closer to the table and throw at it the knife which he was holding in hand all this time, causing Belle more shivers. "People who steal magic never have good intentions!"  
Belle decided to risk and approached him. "You can't tell what's in a person's heart until you truly know them."  
"Oh, we'll see what's in his heart… When I shoot an arrow straight through it! And because I am a showman... it'll be with his bow." while screaming these words, the thief's bow magically appeared in the Dark One's hand in surrounding of the purple smoke. "And because this is your fault-" he pointed a finger at Belle, "you get to come with me and watch, and know as the blood drips from his carcass it'll be you and your rags to wipe it up!" After these words he left.  
Belle exhaled heavily. He took it better than she thought, but now she really hoped that they wouldn't find the thief. No matter of this man's reasons, she couldn't bear to watch how Rumplestiltskin killed him brutally…

**: : . . . : :**

They got into the red-and-black carriage to which were harnessed four black horses, but there was no coachman there. The carriage was guided by Rumplestiltskin's magic.  
They sat inside opposite each other and horses began to gallop leisurely through the forest. It seemed that the anger escaped him and now he was only persistent to finish what he has started and to teach Belle a lesson.  
"I'm losing track of him, this forest is too thick.…" He suddenly spoke and Belle felt that this was a good time to try to change his mind. "Maybe we should return home." she asked hopefully.  
"What, and let the thief escape? What would people think if I spared the life of someone who stole from me?"  
"That there's actually a man hiding behind the beast?"  
"There isn't." he said firmly.  
Belle decided to ask him a question bothering her since they started this ride. "Then why didn't you kill me when I freed the prisoner?"  
"Well, I would have, but good help these days is really hard to find." He answered and Belle didn't believe in any word. You could say a lot about her, but not that she was a good housekeeper. He would have be able to found a better maid without any trouble...  
Just as she believed that the thief had a important reason to stole the wand, that she suddenly felt that it was something more in sparing her life by Rumplestiltskin than he was saying. Maybe he was a good man after all?  
She decided to try prompt him to being honest with her. "I think that you are not as dark as you want people to believe." she looked him straight into eyes. "I think that deep down, there's love in your heart. And for something more than power."  
Rumple leaned toward her and so she did the same. She had hope that she succeeded and in a moment she hear something confirming her suspicions about his person.  
"You're right. There is something I love." He made a short pause to keep Belle in uncertainty. He really didn't want to continue this conversation or he could say something embarrassing. And he needed to keep up his appearances… So he shouted "My things!", making Belle flinch, and he raised his arm to stop the horses.  
"You really are as dark as people say..." Belle said with resignation.  
"Darker, dearie. Much darker. " He stated and got out of the carriage. Someone was coming, so maybe they would gain some information about the thief. Looking at the people on horseback, he automatically stretched out his hand to Belle. Maybe not the best move as he just declared how much dark he is… He wanted to withdraw his hand, but Belle already took it, so he stayed as he was and waited until she get out off the carriage.

**: : . . . : :**

They approached the man at the front, clearly drunk. He was barely able to get off the horse and when he managed to do that, he took a bottle with him. "What are you doing in my woods?" he asked, or actually mumbled, and Rumple decided to play with him a little and not disclose who he really was. I w_onder, when the drunkard figure it out? _  
"Pardon the intrusion, sheriff. I'm looking for a thief. He attacked me with this bow." Rumple showed the bow to sheriff. "I... I traced him as far as these woods, and then he vanished."  
"Yes, I know exactly who you're after." Sheriff glanced at the bow and then looked at the Dark One. "But I also know who you are… Rumplestiltskin."  
_And so my camouflage is over. Pity… _„My reputation precedes me. Excellent."  
"Yes, as does your penchant for making deals." _Hm, that could be interesting… _crossed through Rumple's mind. "I'll tell you where you can find your thief... if you give me something in return."  
"What do you want?"  
"A night with your wench." Sheriff answered instantly. That surprised Rumple. He had been expecting a various prices exchange for the informations, but this?! He turned back to Belle. She was no less shocked than he was.  
"She's not for sale." Maybe he was a monster, but not the kind of monster who could hand over a sweet, innocent girl into the hands of a disgusting drunkard. Especially not for some stupid information… And there are always a other ways to gain it.  
"You can't part with her for, say… an hour?" Sheriff was stubborn and was trying to negotiate. "Twenty minutes?"  
"Let me think. Um..." for a moment Rumplestiltskin pretended that he was considering the Sheriff's proposition. Then he waved his hand and in the next second he was holding the man's tongue. Terrified Sheriff touched his throat, trying to utter a sound. "I propose a new deal." Rumple moved the hand with tongue closer to the Sheriff's face. "I give you this back, and in return, you tell me everything you know about the man I am hunting." The drunkard tried to say something but Rumple waved with his tongue. "You ought to be more careful with your possessions!" He stopped to wave his hand and asked the final question. "Do you agree to my terms?"  
Sheriff tried to answer, but he was only able to wheeze. Rumple cocked his head to one side. "What was that…? All right, I'll take that as a yes then." he said and waved his hand. The tongue was once again in the mouths of the owner. "Start talking."  
"The thief that you're after... I've been chasing him for years. He ruined me!" Sheriff started to talk fast, just to say everything and run away as far and as fast as possible. "He stole the woman I love and... made me the laughingstock of all of Nottingham!"  
"Where can I find him?" Rumple only wanted to hear the name and the place, and this drunk was giving him a damn story of his life!_What a moron… But if what he's saying is true, then this thief isn't such a noble as Belle thinks he is…_  
"Well, the last I heard, he was hiding out in Sherwood Forest."  
"And his name?"  
"Robin Hood. He goes by Robin Hood."  
He got all the informations he needed, _finally!_, so he quickly went with Belle to the forest. He didn't want to stay in the company of this stinking drunk any minute longer. Or waste his strength and time on killing him. And if he would have killed this man, then Belle would began to complain again and he definitely didn't want to hear that. _This girl has so good heart, too good. She is so naïve, seeing a glint of good in everyone, even if it's not there… And this will lose her some day_, he thought sadly. He actually started to like her. He had never known a girl so selfless and brave as Belle... She really intrigued him.

**: : . . . : :**

They walked through the forest, searching for Robin Hood, and Belle was still trying to change his mind. "You know, it's still not too late to... to turn back…" she said with hope, but Rumple didn't say anything, trying to ignore her. However, Belle was not about to give up. "You know, I am not going to stand by and watch you kill a man." she said firmly.  
He stopped and turned to her, clearly irritated. "Well, you're welcome to sit if you like, but you are gonna watch! That's the whole point of our little expedition, remember? To see what your actions wrought!" He turned back, did two steps and stopped again. There he was. The thief. Just a few hundred feet before them. And luckily, he was standing in a perfect place to make a clean shot.  
"Look, he's... he's waiting for someone." Belle still wasn't losing hope. Indeed, in that moment to the thief drove up a carriage, on which was laying a woman, pale as death. "That woman." Belle pointed at her.  
"That must be the one he stole from the sheriff." Rumple stated and strung his bowstring.  
"She's sick. She's going to die."  
"Yeah, and so is he!" He had already started to raising the bow, when Belle grabbed his forearm, lowering it down again. "Stop!" she was looking at the thief, who was now using the wand, moving it above the sick woman's body. He moved the wand over her twice and the woman regained vivid colors. Now Belle regained faith in her hunches. "I'm right about him, about why he stole the wand! He did it so he could heal the woman he loves." she said fondly.  
"He's still a thief!"  
"And she would have died if he hadn't stolen your wand!"  
„And now he gets to die! And she can tell all of Sherwood Forest what happens when you cross Rumplestiltskin!" He waved his hand and Belle suddenly found herself buried in the ground up to her waist. Rumple had enough of her speaking and stopping him from doing this for what they came here. "There! That should give you a good view." he added and put a bow on eye level, again stringing the bowstring.  
"You don't have to do this! There's good in you! I was right about the thief, and I am right about you!" Belle was still trying, but he remained deaf at her words. At the moment, the thief was helping the woman to get out of the carriage and Rumple was almost ready to throw the arrow. He was just about to do that… "Look, she's pregnant!" Belle suddenly screamed. Rumple lowered the bow a little. "You are not the kind of man to leave a child fatherless…"  
_She's right… _He knew she was. He couldn't do that. Yes, this man was a thief, but this baby… It's just a baby, a innocent little creature which did nothing to deserve the nightmare of growing up without a parent… But still, he is the Dark One. And this means something.  
He again raised the bow and fired the arrow. "No!" Belle shouted in the same moment.  
The arrow whistled through the air and hit into the carriage. Robin Hood quickly grabbed the woman by the arm and they headed toward a white horse standing nearby.  
Belle was silent with shock. She was sure that when Rumplestiltskin threw the arrow, it would hit the thief… "What happened?"  
"I missed." he answered shortly and Robin Hood with the woman rode off. Rumple waved his hand and Belle was standing on her feet again. "Get back to the carriage. I'm bored of this forest." He turned his back to her, looking at the escaping couple.  
"You're... you're not going after him?" Belle had to make sure if she heard him correctly.  
"He's not worth the effort."  
So she heard correctly. Quietly and with a smile, she began to approach him. "You spared his life."  
"What? I did nothing of the sort." Rumple still tried to keep up appearances. Belle stopped right behind him. "That bow has magic in it. It never misses its target." she remarked.  
"Well, perhaps the magic just simply wore..." he turned to her and suddenly lost his words. She was so close… So beautiful… So delicate… Looking straight at him with these wonderful big, blue eyes… "off…" he finished with difficulty. Belle grinned and did something, what he would have never expected - stood on tiptoes and hugged him. It lasted just a few seconds, but it was like a eternity for him. When she finally let him go and began to walk in the direction of the carriage, he was still standing in place completely dumbstruck. _She… she hugged me… SHE… ME… Such a monster… And after how I treated her today…_ He couldn't believe it. _And she did that so sincerely… She hadn't even flinched away…_ But not only that shocked him so much. He was even more scared with what he felt. A rapid heartbeat, a pleasant heat spreading in his belly… He hadn't felt that in so long…  
"Aren't you coming?" Belle's voice pulled him from the stupor. He took the bow and followed her, still trying to control his emotions. It had been so long since he felt something other than the overwhelming grief... In fact, so much time that he even forgot what it was like to feel something other than grief...

**: : . . . : :**

They returned to the castle in silence. None of them felt the need to say anything. It was only when they entered the living room, Belle broke the silence. "Looks like you won't be needing that bow anymore…"  
"Actually, I think I'll hold onto it. You never know, could come in handy someday." He said and hung both bow and quiver on the chair. "Well, uh, if you don't need me for anything else, good night, Rumplestiltskin." she nodded and turned around, walking toward doors leading to the dungeons. Suddenly Rumple felt that this was a perfect opportunity for his little surprise. His heart was simply screaming _do something nice for her, you idiot! Just do it! _and he didn't feel the need to oppose it. "No, wait." he said and Belle turned back to him, looking expectantly. "There is something else."

**: : . . . : :**

He led Belle up the stairs in the hall, then along the next staircase, placed in the middle of the hallway. Belle noted that these were the winding stairs with the door on top, leading to an empty room. Why they were going there now?  
They climbed up and Rumple stepped inside and Belle followed him. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she stopped in place with bewilderment. The room wasn't empty any longer, they were now standing in a beautiful, huge library, all filled with bookshelves. It was like a paradise for her...  
"Temper your excitement, dearie. This is merely another room for you to clean." After all, he wouldn't tell her that he built it specially for her. _Appearances, remember!_ he reminded himself.  
"It's... it's beautiful." Belle said thoughtfully. She could hardly speak from the sensation. Never in her life had she seen a library more beautiful than this one... "There's more books in here than I could read in a lifetime…"  
"Well, I hope you can clean faster than you can read…"  
Belle walked over to the table where she saw the book. When she took it in the hands and began to flip through pages, she realized that it was the same book which she was reading earlier, this same which Rumple had took. And she has already begun to fear that she had lost it for good... She put down her book and looked searchingly at Rumplestiltskin. "Did you do all this for me?"  
He pointed finger at her. "I better not see a single speck of dust gathering on any of these books!" He could pretend as much he wanted, but she knew that he did that for her. She smiled widely. "What are you smiling at? I'm serious." Ignoring his words, she approached him and grabbed his finger still pointing at her, taking hold of his hands in hers. "You're not who I thought you were… And I'm glad."  
Their eyes met and they lasted so long while, just looking at each other and barely breathing. But in some moment, Rumplestiltskin freed his hand from her grasp, and as fast as he could, he left the library, heading toward his chamber.  
Belle was surprised at first that this time he didn't take her to her cell which he always locked at night and opened in the morning. She took that as a good sign. She put on the table the largest candlestick and tried to read an unfinished book. But all the time, words were blurring and before her eyes were running the images of the passing day. She smiled. Rumplestiltskin had acted in a really wonderful way... Sparing the thief's life, giving her the library, allowing her to stay in here tonight… She hadn't expected that from him, but his behavior really made her happy and now she felt a surge of positive energy. _Maybe this eternity spent here won't be so bad after all... _she thought with a smile.


	4. Chapter 3 - Conclusions

Since Rumplestiltskin gave her the library, she spent the entire time there. She locked herself there, reading books or dusting them. This place was like her small, private paradise. And not only she had been feeling happier now, she also could finally relax a little bit. A few weeks of cleaning and scrubbing the floors had exhausted her completely. Of course, this was her job, and she shouldn't complain. But now, for the first time since when she arrived to the Dark Castle, she wasn't crying in the night.

She was in the library for a few days, not eating, neglecting her duties and she completely lost herself in this place. So much, that she even forgot where she actually was - in the castle belonging to the Dark One. She remembered it only just when the door swung open with a bang. "I see you are quite busy, dearie" Rumple said brightly with a smile. But it only lasted a few seconds, after which his face became severe and his cold eyes met hers. "Unfortunately not with what you should be!" he shouted and almost in the same moment he appeared right in front of her, closing her book with a crash. It caused the effect he had expected; Belle squealed and jumped shocked.

Not saying anything more, knowing that he achieved the desired effect, Rumplestiltskin waved his hand and the book disappeared in the purple smoke. Rumple pointed at the door and smiled slightly, but in combination with his stern look, this seemed to be a harbinger of something bad.

After a temporary paralysis, Belle recovered and walked past him with her head held high. She wasn't afraid of him. Through the first few days spent here, she was slow and clumsy, she made many mistakes (mostly relating to cooking) but he had never punished her. And he didn't punish her neither when she freed the thief. She ceased to be afraid of him now, knowing deep down that he would not hurt her. She was now only afraid that he may destroy the library. And that would have been really devastating.

**: : . . . : :**

She went into the living room, took a mop and soaked it in a hastily prepared a bucket of water, and began to wash the floor. She felt really stupid because of what she did. He gave her a gift and she had definitely abused it. She was still his maid, she shouldn't neglect her job. But she did that. _Should I apologize him? Or maybe better not and just stay focused on work?_

While she was working and thinking, Rumplestiltskin sat comfortably on his favorite armchair by the fireplace and gazed at her. He liked to do that. Even while cleaning, her movements were graceful and unconsciously alluring. He couldn't tear his eyes from her, though he was not sure why he was so bewitched. He wasn't looking for love. He didn't want it. Not after his experiences. _Love is nothing more than a falsity_, he told himself, _and although true love exists somewhere, it isn't destined for me. I'm a monster... no one loves monsters. And that is good._ But it wasn't good. He felt emptiness in his heart. Not only because he didn't have his beloved son next to him and that from his own fault, because of his damn cowardice. He sometimes caught himself thinking about his previous life, conversations with Milah or even with neighbors. Since when he became the Dark One and lost almost everything, his only chat companion was his Baelfire. And when he lost him as well, he had been talking only with people with whom he was making deals. Although talking is too much to say. In some moment he started to think that the emptiness in his heart was caused both by longing for his son and loneliness. So he brought Belle here, to have some company and to torment her to pass the time. But not only he didn't hurt her in any way, even when she released the thief, but to addition he realized that he liked her... And he didn't like anyone!

So at first he tried avoiding her. He even felt relieved when she spent all three days in the library. He would let her stay there longer, but he needed to keep up appearances. And besides, when she locked herself in the library, he felt a great urge to be near her. He never wanted to be close to people, even before becoming the Dark One, so why with her it was different? What have changed? _And how the hell did that happen?_

Suddenly his thoughts had been interrupted by an irritated voice. "Hey, do you hear me? I repeat for the last time, if you won't move away within seconds, then this piece of floor you clean yourself!" He raised his eyes and met her glare. Belle could swear that for a second she noticed in his eyes sadness, but quickly they came back to this inscrutable expression. "Of course" he stood up with dignity, moved the armchair away like a gentleman and bowed slightly. "There you go, my lady." But it of course wasn't a gentlemanly gesture, as evidenced by his smirk. Belle only sighed, too tired for his little games, and she started to clean the dirty spot.

Rumple was looking pensively at her for few more seconds, then did a quick U-turn and approached to his spinning wheel. Spinning soothed him, watching the wheel helped him to forget about the painful past and the terrible mistakes he had committed, and now he definitely needed that, to spin the thoughts away... But before that, he cast a quick glance at Belle, now quietly humming during cleaning, as she always did, and he couldn't suppress his blissful smile.

**: : . . . : :**

After several hours of continuous work, interrupted only once for dinner, Belle had no energy for anything. She dreamed only of a good book. She couldn't notice Rumplestiltskin anywhere around, so she decided that she can easily go to the library. At least for an hour... She briskly walked up the stairs and she was almost, almost near the library doors, practically running there, when suddenly right in front of her appeared like a ghost Rumplestiltskin. "Going somewhere, dearie?" he asked, grinning mischievously.

Belle quickly slowed down so as not to collide with him. Her brain began to work at top speed to come up with a sensible answer. But before it was able to come up with something, Rumple spoke first. "Have you already forgotten how your last visit in the library ended? I didn't give you the library so you would sit there all day, completely forgetting about your duties!" He made a pause, catching her look in which he found only a small sparkle of fear, so small that almost invisible. _Why isn't she afraid? _Everyone was afraid of him! Although he actually didn't want her to be afraid, but still _appearances_! He can't become soft, after all. Or let her think so. "Did you really thought that I will leave this just like that?" he sneered, showing his stained teeth, and he continued raising his voice intentionally. "You must be punished. You allow yourself on too much, my dear! And you're here only a housekeeper! Yes... Punishment is inevitable..." He laughed maniacally and Belle paled.

She knew he was only trying to scare her and that wasn't bothering her. What was bothering her however, was that she was sure there will be some sort of punishment. _Maybe he really is going to destroy the library…?_

Meanwhile, he raised his hand and the door, so far remaining open, now shut with a bang. Another, this time horizontal, movement of the hand, and the doors had covered with multiple bolts. Rumple gave Belle few seconds to familiarize with the situation and then he spoke with disturbingly quiet and calm tone. "And so that is your punishment, dearie. Apparently the library has a bad affect on you, so you won't be using it anymore." He paused for a brief moment and then laughed maniacally.

Belle was able only to utter the question "For how long?"

"As long as I'll find it appropriate!" Rumplestiltskin responded, and before she could say something, he was already gone.

For a moment she was just staring at the locked door. She felt relieved and sad at the same moment. He didn't destroy the library, that's good. But she couldn't go there, and who knows how long it was suppose to last… But what she could do?

After about a minute of pointless staring at the barricaded door, she slowly went back to her cell. She lay down on the hard, uncomfortable bed, burying her face in the pillow, earlier gifted to her by Rumplestiltskin. She felt really bad. He gave her the library and she enjoyed with it only a few days. She sighed. _This punishment won't last forever..._ she tried to raise the spirits.

**: : . . . : :**

On the morning, the cell door swung open loudly and the Dark One stood in them. Without too much of enthusiasm, Belle rose from her bunk and slowly smoothed her crumpled dress. Rumplestiltskin's eyes followed her every move thoroughly and when at last their gazes met, he cleared his throat nervously and threw her a coat. "Dress up" he said and when she looked at him suspiciously he added "We're going for a little walk. I need firewood, and I will certainly not let you go to the woods alone, dearie."

Belle looked at him more suspiciously now. _Firewood? Why doesn't he just conjure it? Why does he prefer to go to the woods instead? Is he planning something? An another part of the punishment? _When she was lost in thoughts and didn't move from place, Rumplestiltskin hastened her with an impatient tone. "Hurry up, I'm not going to wait for you!"

She decided to not ask him about this trip and just obey. Maybe if she was obedient he would end her punishment soon? And besides, no matter of his motives, she hadn't really believed that he was planning to punish her further. Suddenly a certain thought jumped to her head. _Is this possible that he was simply lonely? That this trip to gather the firewood is just a cover and in reality he just wanted to go outside with some __companion__ …?_ She had never thought about him in that way, but now… Now it seemed to be real.

**: : . . . : :**

They'd been walking through the woods, Belle carrying the wood which Rumple handed her by using magic, and she was still lost in her thoughts. She really didn't know what to think about him. When she thought that there was good in him, he suddenly did something horrible. And when she started to lose hope, he again did something what changed her mind. He was so layered… So difficult to figure out… And this really intrigued her. She had never before met someone so complicated. People from her castle, or even Gaston, were really simple, there was nothing layered in them, no mystery to be uncovered. But Rumplestiltskin? Figuring out what was really hiding in his heart and his soul (and she had no doubt that he had them) was a big challenge and she was certain that it was a challenge that would have been worth to be taken.

Suddenly Belle felt surge of courage and enthusiasm._ If I only could make him to open on me, to trust me... We are both lonely, and if he trusted me, we could help each other..._ And it was not only a desire to look into his soul, what was motivated her. She had to admit, that despite everything, she actually liked him. And she really wanted to get to know him better.

Carried by this thought, she took a deep breath and ran up to Rumplestiltskin, pressing into his hands the wood she was carrying. He looked at her puzzled. "It's not fitting for a woman to carry heavy weights, so now YOU will carry the wood, and I'll gather it" she said in a tone that brooked no argument and she walked a bit aside, looking for the brushwood.

She was expecting that Rumplestiltskin would protest, but he did nothing of the sort.

_I think I impressed him..._ she thought with a smile.

_This girl is really extraordinary..._ he thought, while looking at her back.


	5. Chapter 4 - Wolves and the Ladder

They'd been walking like that for around half a hour, now heading towards the castle. The entire time Rumplestiltskin didn't say a word to her and she started to have enough of that. They'd barely been talking with one another generally, but now she was determined to change that. If she was going to get to know him, then they needed to start talking. But the problem was that he wasn't willing to do that. It was obvious that she was the one who needed to start the conversation.

"Do you often go to walk?" she asked casually and he looked at her puzzled. "No... not really" he answered after a moment of silence. Now she looked at him puzzled. "Why? Don't you like the forest?". He looked around, at green trees and listened for a second chirp of birds, and then he wrinkled his nose and looked at her. "It's too cheerful, too overwhelming" he answered simply and looked ahead, as if thinking that this is end of the conversation. Oh, how wrong he was...

"But it is so nice out here. Quiet, only birds chirping, and it's healthy..." she looked at him, rising one eyebrow. Right, he didn't like birds… And he didn't have health problems. And it was quiet in his castle as well...

"So... if you don't like the forest, then... what places do you like?" she asked then, and when he opened mouth to answered, she quickly added "Except for your castle" and he closed his mouth.

She walked next to him with little smile on face, waiting patiently for his answer.

"I like valleys." he finally spoke. "Green valleys at the foot of mountains, with streams intersecting them and small lakes in the middle..." he said with a small, blissful smile, and she grinned. "So, you go to places like that often?"

"No... not really" he answered and she narrowed her brow. "Why? If you like these places, then why..." she couldn't finish, because he interjected her. "Because I have more important things to do! End of conversation!" he shouted and quickened his pace.

She sighed, dropped her head and followed him. _At least we had the seed of the conversation… Sorta…_

**: : . . . : :**

They made only a few steps, when suddenly they heard howling and in the next second they found themselves surrounded by pack of wolves, apparently hungry and looking for dinner. Belle took a step towards Rumplestiltskin, but in that moment one of the wolves jumped on her back, knocking her on the ground with momentum. The others started to stalk towards the Dark One, who used magic to pushed them away several meters. However, one of the wolves managed to knock his teeth in his arm, when meanwhile, the first one was trying to get to Belle's throat. She was trying to struggle with him, screaming stridently…

Without a second thought, Rumple used his free hand to pull away the wolf from his arm and then quickly grabbed by the neck the wolf on Belle. He threw him back and sent a fire ball in his direction. The wolves managed to duck, but scared they howled and ran away. But the rest of wolves seemed to be more perky. Although sore, they were already standing on their feet and growling dangerously, getting ready to attack.

Belle was lying on the ground, covered in blood, writhing in pain. Rumple had to make a decision quickly. He could fight, but it would take time… He looked at Belle. No, they had no time.

He kneeled next to her and teleported them straight to the living room in his castle.

**: : . . . : :**

He took her in his arms and gently laid her on the couch. Carefully he touched her arm, but the pain was so much, that from her throat tore a scream, somewhat muffled by her crying. Her forearm was heavily torn.

Rumplestiltskin was feeling sorry for the girl. He knew it was his fault, that he shouldn't have took her there. _Damn wolves… They gonna pay for that someday,_ he thought with rage.

He shifted his hand above her body, and it was surrounded by purple smoke. After a while, all wounds disappeared from Belle's body and terrible, piercing pain had stopped. She breathed heavily from relief and looked at her arm. It was completely smooth, you couldn't notice any scar on it, just as if nothing had ever happened.

She sniffled and wiped the tears from her face, after what she looked at Rumplestiltskin. In his eyes hid concern, but also…hurt? She looked down and noted his bleeding arm.

"You're bleeding! " she shouted and gingerly grabbed his hand, pulling it closer to her, so she could get a better look. His arm wasn't bitten so terribly as earlier her, but still, it looked bad.

Rumple managed a weak smile. "It's really nothing…" he said and waved his hand above his arm, as he did with her before, and the wound disappeared. Although Belle hated magic, she had to admit that it was handy sometimes. After all, if not for magic, these wolves would have killed them…

Rumple looked her in the eye, still doing nothing to take back his hand from her grasp.

"I think you got your lesson… so your punishment can be ended…" he said quietly.

"It… Wait… So it means…" she narrowed her eyes. "It means that I can use the library again?"

"Yes, but reasonably! Because if you start spending every minute there again, you won't see these books ever again!" Despite of his threat, Belle was greatly grateful, though a little surprised that he ended her punishment so quickly. Apparently, this incident with wolves had to have quite an impact on him…

She squeezed his hand harder and with the other hand she grabbed his shoulder to help herself rise to sitting position and she moved slightly closer to him. She sent him a genuine, warm smile and kissed him gently on the cheek. In that moment she felt his whole body stiffened and she heard him taking a sharp intake of breath. _He apparently isn't used to kind contact like that… and this is actually quite cute…_She looked him into eye, their faces just an inches from each other. Now she felt her cheeks getting warmer and she heard him swallowing. She tilted her head slightly and whispered in his ear "Thank you… for everything" and placed a mild kiss on his earlobe. Then she let go of his hand and she got up from the couch, heading towards side door. Before she reached them, she stopped and turned around. "I'm hungry… And you?"

He only managed to nod in response.

This girl made his mind and heart crazy. She made him want only to sit next to her, looking into her beautiful ocean eyes, holding his hideous hands in her own, so delicate and tiny… She caused that he started to have hope. Hope of a happy ending.

**: : . . . : :**

_He saw smiling Belle, sitting beside him. He could feel her warm lips on his cheek, her wonderfully soft hands holding his own… Suddenly the image changed and he saw her lying on the ground, covered in blood. He wanted to run up to her, to help her… But in that moment, a huge shaggy creature passed him like a wind, and jumped straight on Belle and crushed her with his heavy flesh. He sank his teeth into her throat and started to tear it apart, wildly waving his head from side to side. The blood was spurting everywhere…_

Rumple jumped out of bed, looking around with panic. _It was just a dream… Just a dream…_He tried to reassure himself and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He concluded that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again this night, so he walked down to the living room and sat by his spinning wheel. He took a deep breath, but before he started to spin, stroke by a sudden thought, he waved his hand. _Belle will have a little surprise when she wakes up…_he thought with a small smile and plunged into spinning.

**: : . . . : :**

Belle woke up. The images of attacking wolves were still coming to her mind when she slept. Never before she was so terrified, like she was then. If not for Rumple, only bones would have been left after her. She would have been served as dinner.

Anxiously she looked at her arm. It was still smooth, without any evidence of attack.

Belle smiled to herself, at the memory of Rumplestiltskin's concerned eyes. He wasn't a monster, now she was absolutely sure. Monster wouldn't care about her wounds or pain…

She sighed and came down from her bunk. Through the bars were beginning to wade sunlight, illuminating the gloomy interior. Only now she noted a dress lying in the legs of bunk. _A dress…?_ She approached closer and took it in her hands. The dress was beautiful; bright blue with white bodice and brown unlaces at front.

She looked down at bunk and noticed a note. She raised it and started to read.

_It's your new outfit for work. The previous one was slowing your work, this should do better. Wear it._

_R._

She grinned. He gave her another gift. Of course he wrote that the golden dress was ineffective in her work, which it was in fact, but it was not the reason why he did that. He couldn't fool her.

Belle quickly changed into it and noted with delight how light and comfortable this dress was. Feeling genuinely happy, she smoothed her new outfit and approached the door, noticing with pleasure that they weren't locked.

**: : . . . : :**

Walking towards the living room, she was thinking about today's schedule. She had scrubbed the floors recently and it was nothing to dust at the moment either… When she entered the living room, a sudden thought flashed through her mind. She looked around. She really liked this room, but through covered windows she barely could see anything. He never told her to uncover them and before she was too afraid to ask him about it. But she wasn't afraid of him anymore and now she knew what she was going to do today. She would pull open these damn curtains. Yes, but there was a one, small problem. They hung really high…

She looked at Rumplestiltskin, who was sitting by the spinning wheel. _He spins again, of course… Hadn't even noticed me._She shook her head and shouted cheerfully "Good morning" in his direction. He looked at her gloomily and returned greeting after a few seconds. He seemed not to share her good spirit. But Belle decided to ask him for help nonetheless. "Could you perhaps place a ladder in here?" she said with sweet voice and pointed finger at one of the windows. "I wanted to…"

"Yes, yes…" he interrupted her in mid-sentence and, not even looking at her, he waved his hand. Under the window was now standing a ladder, high to the ceiling.

"Uhm… Thank you…" she stammered to his back, taken aback by his instant assent.

Belle carefully scanned the ladder. She never liked heights… But well, she started this, so she will finish it. She swallowed, took a deep breath, then another, then rubbed her hands about each other, and finally began to climb. She stopped on the sixth step, so that she could now grab the curtains just in the right spot.

She had expected that after a little tug they would open, but nothing happened. She tried again, a little harder this time. Still no reaction. _What the hell?_She glanced at Rumplestiltskin. He was lost in spinning and was completely ignoring her. Suddenly a question occurred in her mind and she spoke it aloud. "Why do you spin so much?" Rumple immediately stopped to roll the wheel and slightly tilted his head in her direction, then looked back at his wheel. "Sorry. It's just… You've spun straw into more gold than you could ever spend." she observed.

"I like to watch the wheel –" he touched it gently, setting it in motion. "helps me forget." he added pensively.

"Forget what?"

He didn't answer immediately, remaining silent for a few seconds.

"I guess it worked." He finally said and giggled, turning his head towards Belle and she laughed as well.

Rumple watched her awhile, as if only now he had noticed that she was standing on the ladder. He got up and walked over to her. "What are you doing?" he asked, clearly intrigued by her weird actions. _And how did this ladder get there? It wasn't there before, right? Did I conjure it? Damn…_

"Opening these. It's so dark here... we should let some light in." she said and tugged on the curtains again, but they still didn't move. Irritated, she turned her head to Rumplestiltskin, who stopped thoughtfully before the ladder. "What did you do? Nail them down?"

"Yes" he answered without a thought and Belle laughed at this answer, or more at the tone he said it. As if nailing curtains to the window was something perfectly normal.

She tugged on curtain again with force and then again with even more force, and suddenly she felt that curtain was giving up, as was the ground under her feet.

She was falling.

Her heart stopped for a second and breath stuck in her throat. _It's the end..._

But when she was supposed to hit in tough floor, she found herself in soft embrace.

Rumplestiltskin caught her and she was now lying in his arms, one hand on her waist and one under her knees. She placed her hand on his shoulder and looked at his face, now lightened by sunlight. Rumple raised his eyes at the window, behind which was stretching mountainous landscape. Not staring on it for too long, he moved his gaze at her. "Thank you…" Belle managed to say, after a moment.

They looked into each other's eyes and he was still holding her in his arms. In this light his skin was slightly glittering and to her own surprise, Belle found this quite attractive.

They'd been staring at one another for a while, until Rumple felt embarrassed. He quickly set her down, so abruptly that she almost stumbled, and he stepped back a little.

"Thank you." she repeated and Rumple waved his hand dismissively. "It's no matter." he said and headed towards his wheel. "I'll, uh, put the curtains back up." he heard Belle saying and he stopped in a half-step, turning back to her. "Ah, there's no need. I'll get used to it." he said, doing another gesture with his hand, and turned again, approaching to the spinning wheel, with wistfulness on his face.

He again had no idea what was happening with him. What he was saying, what he was doing… His whole body was behaving independently of him. His brain turned off and lips spoke words themselves. He didn't like it. He should've let her go immediately, not held her in arms for so long. Hell, she should've tore out from his arms, not just lying there and smiling to him gratefully. He caught her, a big deal… He has good reflexes, that's all. And that he saved her life by the way, a second time in two days in fact? Well, it's just happened, it was just an impulse… Nothing meaningful… Just a normal reaction of the small human part which still remained in him…

Yes, he should have set her down immediately and ordered her to put the curtains back up.

He should have…

But his heart was of a different opinion.

It was telling him to hold her in his arms, to not put her in danger, to rescue her when she already found herself in danger… It told him to let the curtains be open, because letting sunlight inside made her happy...

It was beating fast now, making him feel warmth inside and it stung, and it was a new feeling for him… He felt warmth inside once before with Belle, in the forest, after he spared the thief's life and she hugged him… But it was still new for him. New and pleasant, certainly pleasant. But also disturbing. He couldn't let his guard down, after all…

But he determined to not worry about that today.

He was now in good spirits and decided that today he would spend all day sitting with Belle on the couch by the fireplace in the library, her reading him a book and him sipping his tea, watching her sweet lips and listening to her angelic voice…

_Yes, it certainly promises to be a wonderful day..._


	6. Chapter 5 - A winter accident

Being in the Dark Castle from several months, she realized in one moment, that this place became a home for her. She felt at ease and bold in Rumplestiltskin's presence, she didn't sneak around him, quite to the contrary actually. When he was gone all day, she gladly awaited his return. When she dusted, she hummed happily. When she was nearby Rumplestiltskin, she freely touched him, hugging or kissing him on the cheek, despite his stiffness at such moments. At evenings they sat on the couch by the fireplace in the living room, her curled next to him, reading a book aloud, and him sipping his tea and listening to her. Sometimes she sat with him by his spinning wheel and watched him spin. The meals they always ate together and since the unfortunate meeting with the wolves, he became a little more talkative with her; he told her stories about his deals and places he visited, he was talked about the desperate souls he dealt with, and she listened to him bewitched.

With time she discovered that whenever he was nearby she felt butterflies in her stomach and pleasant heat in her heart, but when he wasn't in sight or wasn't even in the castle, she felt really sad and terrible missed him.

Her thoughts and dreams flowed around their little moments. The moment when he had caught her and held her in his arms much longer that he supposed to… his face expression when he did so… The moment when he healed her arm and she kissed his cheek… The moment when he gave her library, trying so earnestly to make sure this didn't look like a gift… All the moments when they sat on the couch or by the table or by the spinning wheel… just talking or even not talking, just enjoying each other company… She knew now that she had feelings for him. A strong feelings. The strongest from all. She loved him. She loved him with all her heart, falling in love with him already since the ladder accident.

And she shouldn't probably feel this, it was somehow wrong. Well, it would have been wrong for other people, but it wasn't for her. When the other people would have be terrified by his mere presence, she found his company really enjoyable. She didn't seem his repulsive, his strange skin and huge, amber eyes were quite pleasant and fascinating for her in fact. She didn't seem him as a monster either; there was good in him, she knew it. He could be kind and caring, behaving with all the good manners and he would never hurt her, she was sure of that.

But as the brave as she was, she wasn't brave enough to do next step. She didn't want to destroy the fragile friendship they developed and although she was sure of her feelings, she had no idea what his were. He liked her, liked her company, she could tell that much. But did he feel something more? Well, if so, he could hide that very well. Constantly he gave her conflicting feelings, one moment behaving so nice for her, and in the next shouting at her. Every time when he let his guard down, he quickly composed himself and shielded again. He didn't trust her, didn't want to tell her anything about his past, didn't want to show her his vulnerable side. And he became irritated very quickly, so she tried to avoid such subjects, tried to not bring back his bad memories. _Maybe someday he will tell me…_ So for now she decided to let things be as they are now. She's going to be here forever anyway, so why risking things by rushing them? And from the things he said and her reading between lines, she made assumption that someone seriously hurt him in the past, a woman presumably, maybe even more than one. He talked about love with such hatred… If she would make another step, he would flee from his own feelings or reject her if he didn't have feelings for her. _Yes, better to not do anything… At least for now…_

She sighed and looked out the window. There was snow everywhere. _It's only few days until Christmas… _ she sighed again. She always spent Christmas at home, with her father. In this year also Gaston was suppose to join them. This Christmas were supposed to be special also because they were supposed to get married then. She smiled brightly. At least she didn't need to marry that dolt anymore.

Suddenly she realized something and looked around. This place didn't look prepared for Christmas, there was no Christmas atmosphere here at all. She had no idea if Rumplestiltskin liked Christmas and if he celebrated it in any way… Somehow she doubted that. But at the moment, she also didn't quite care. If she was going to spend Christmas here, she might as well spend it the right way.

She considered for a moment. She needed a tree. And ornaments. But how could she get them? She couldn't just go out shopping. She wouldn't be even able to sneak out to do that, as Rumplestiltskin always sealed gates by magic, when he went on deals. _I can cut the tree from the ones surrounding the castle… Yes, I will take care of that first, then I will think about the rest. _The tree was the most important after all.

In the morning Rumplestiltskin stated that he wouldn't be back until evening, so she had plenty of time for preparations. The other day she wouldn't dare to do something without his permission, but now everything was different. Their relationship was different. Her behavior was different. She knew that people would think of her as a crazy and stupid, like she lost her mind, provoking the beast, but she wasn't afraid of his reaction to her boldness. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, probably not even if she would try to escape. Not that she would want to of course…

She peeked in a small closet and took a saw from it. She wasn't quite convinced if she could do that, but she decided to try. _If he found out, that I wasn't able to cut a simple, small tree, he would mock me for the rest of my life... (again, I would probably mock her if she couldn't) _And that's something she couldn't afford. So with a determined step she left the castle and went to the back of it. There was a forest behind the wall, but some trees were on the side, so Belle could do what she came here for.

She stood before group of conifers and scrutinized them. She tried to find the tree with the thinnest trunk. _This is too fat… this too… this one's better, but to tall… Oh, this one looks promising! _She locked eyes with a little tree, hid among bigger colleagues. She stepped closer and pondered a while, looking from tree to saw, and from saw back to the tree. _Yes, this will do, _she finally concluded. She pressed the saw to the tree trunk and started to carefully cut. It would be stupid if she would accidently cut off her hand or a finger. Rumplestiltskin would forbid her going outside permanently, from fear to she didn't hurt herself again. Of course, he would have say that this is a punishment. But she knew better. He cared for her. He would have never admitted that, but she knew.

So she cut slowly and carefully, and cut and cut…

**: : . . . : :**

A few hours passed before the tree was finally situated in the living room. Belle was exhausted, but she wasn't giving up. She made a provisional base for the trunk and she set the tree up vertically. _Now only the decorations… _She looked around and noted the straws of gold which Rumplestiltskin left after his yesterday's spinning. _They will do perfectly as a chain…_

When she entwined the tree with a gold chain, she started to wander around the castle, looking for things which could be used as a decorations. To her own surprise in the bottom of one of the closets she found a big, dusted, cardboard box. From its poor state she could say it had many, many years and from its many, many years wasn't been used. Inside were various festive decorations, all dirty and looking inexpensive, most of them clearly homemade. _Did they belong to him? _she wondered. For a moment she considered to take them. It seemed that he didn't like Christmas after all. Or maybe he simply didn't celebrate it because he had no one to do so with? She decided to be brave, and so she took the box, undusted all of the ornaments and then decorated with them the main hall, staircase there and the sills in the living room.

Right now she was absorbed by decorating the tree. She was nearly in the midst, when she heard a bang. And then silence. A deafening silence…

A cold shiver passed through her. With careful move she approached the door, grabbing one of the brass figurines from the pedestal in the meantime. After taking a deep breath, she quickly opened the door and passed through them, holding the statue high, ready to attack the intruder.

She stopped in a half-step when in place of expecting burglar, she saw Rumplestiltskin.

"Oh, I'm so happy it's you!" she said with relief, and released the breath she was holding. "I was afraid that someone had broke in again…" she explained, but then stilled quiet, as his face was blank and he stood there like a statue. Then suddenly he looked at her, his expression changed, his eyes narrowed and lips pressed into a thin line. "What… is… this?!" he hissed through clenched teeth and although Belle wasn't afraid, a shiver shot through her body. She had never saw him so tensed before. However, she decided to stand firm to her decision. She deserved a proper Christmas, and if he doesn't like that, then he can spend Christmas elsewhere, that's what!

"A festive decorations. It's Christmas in two days, remember?" She said gently, but not quite managed to hide her excitement. She hoped she would be able to calm him down and convince him to celebrate with her. After all, she didn't want to spend this day lonely.

"Christmas?! You are here on service, not to have fun! And from where did you produce all this decorations?!" He shouted and waved his hand, knocking a porcelain bell from the table, the ornament she liked the most and had a silent hope he liked it too.

The bell fell on the floor, shattering onto multiple pieces. Belle's face fall and tears started to form in her eyes.

Rumple was staring at the mess for a while, with some longing on his face. Then he looked at Belle and narrowed his eyes. He knew these were his decorations, from his time with Bae. His son loved Christmas time so much, that Rumple started to buy cheap ornaments for him, as his meager money didn't allow for anything better, so he actually made most of the decorations on his own, some of them together with his beloved son. The only thing more expensive was the bell, the bell he just destroyed.

Since he lost his boy, Rumplestiltskin didn't celebrate Christmas. He had no reason for it. Nor the person to accompany him. But now he was looking at Belle, quietly crying, and his face softened. He felt a unpleasant twinge in his heart at the sight. God, the effect this woman had on him was making him crazy. She looked so excited when she had talked about Christmas, and he destroyed her mood. He personally was never happy at the day, bad memories associated with it, the day he always spend alone as a boy, his father more interested in drinking with his friends... But when years later Rumple had his own son nearby, this became a happy day for both of them. Bae was as enthusiastic about Christmas as Belle was. This same happy sparkle in eyes, this same joy in voice and entire face. Rumple always felt bad about his lack of money to buy his dear boy something good as a present, but Bae used to say that most important was for him the fact that they were together and as long as this lasted, he could dowithout presents at all, because having his father by him was all he needed. This always brought tears into Rumple's eyes. His son's love... He doubted in it when he became the Dark One, only now seeing how stupid he was to ever doubt in it. But none of this were Belle's worries. The time that passed irrevocably for him, but it didn't mean that it had to be the same for her. He shouldn't be taking away her joy with the day. He didn't want to.

So he sighed and waved his hand, the purple smoke surrounding the broken porcelain and within seconds the bell stood again on the table in intact state.

Belle gaped and opened her mouth, but no sound escaped. Rumple stared at the ornament for a moment, trying to dissolve memories from his mind, and then he looked at Belle, locking his eyes with hers. She winked at that moment so strongly, that tears escaped from her eyes and flowed by a thin stream down her cheeks.

"I… I'm sorry…" Rumple stuttered, not used to apologizing. He tried to sound firm, but his voice shook and he could do nothing about it. He felt remorseful seeing her sad face and stream of tears, and for a second had a impulse to stroke her cheek and wipe the tears away.

Before he realized, he stood right before her, his hand raising to her face. _What the hell is happening with me?! _In one second he composed himself and took his usual, scornful attitude and cleared his throat _just in case_. "If you want to have Christmas, then you can have it, but don't involve me into this foolishness!" he said with a raised tone and yes, now he sounded much more like himself. But then, why he felt that this wasn't right? It only irritated him more.

He pointed finger at the front door. _Now go and do something useful, girl. There is so much snow in the yard that it's hard to walk!" _Not waiting for the answer, he passed her and entered the living room. And then he stopped, frozen in place. _What the hell she has done?! _He was not able to look at it, it was too… festively. Too much like in times back with Bae… The ornaments, even a damn tree… No, it was too much, too much for him… He turned away quickly and almost collided with Belle. Not even glancing at her, he run up the stairs, taking two steps at time, hurrying to his chamber. His safe place, his sanctuary. Away from damn decorations and away from Belle…

**: : . . . : :**

Belle took out a straw broom from the closet and a broad shovel, perfect for shoveling the snow. She also took few slices of bread, hoping that she will see birds and be able to feed them. Back in her father's kingdom she liked to do that. To feed them and listen to their tweeting… She put on a cloak and walked out.

While shoveling snow she wondered about Rumplestiltskin's reaction. He seemed to be quite moved by her tears, just as in her first days here. And then he again changed into this cold, malicious imp… _Well, at least he fixed the bell…_

Suddenly she heard chirping. She put down the shovel and took out from her pocket the pouch with bread. She started to call birds and throw them crumbs. First one bird came, then few more joined, and quickly Belle was surrounded by multiple, colorful birds. She put her thoughts aside and focused on feeding the birds. They were so beautiful and amusing…

**: : . . . : :**

Rumple stood by the window and was staring intensely at Belle. Luckily she hadn't look up, so she didn't notice him. He felt really strange. One part of him, a cowardly part, told him to step back, to end the deal and get rid of the girl. But the second part of him told him to keep her close, to not leave her even for a second, to spend all days on listening her sweet voice and looking at her azure eyes, to protect her from all the evil and danger, to be more human near her and let her feel comfortable with him... And the second part was winning by now.

And this was strange.

He wasn't himself with her. He was softening then, stopping being so dark and mocking like he was with others. He felt such an urge to be kind for her and gentle, and affectionate, and helping… be all the things he was before taking the curse on himself.

And he felt irritated by that.

It isn't how it was suppose to be! He was suppose to be cruel to her, make her cry and plead, be fearsome and derive a selfish pleasure from her fear. And he was all but opposite! How he was behaving?! It… it wasn't in his style! Why was he behaving like that? It was just a girl. He met many girls like that in his long life. _No… None of them was like Belle… _he corrected himself and then snarled at himself. He was a three hundred years old Dark One and was behaving like a damn teenager!

He looked at Belle once again, apparently happily humming while feeding bird, _damn birds! _and he snorted. Then he quickly left his room, wanting to be alone and dispose of intrusive thoughts about Belle. He had more important things to think about after all...

He slammed the door forcefully and started to heading towards the living room. Then he recalled about decorations. No, he wasn't ready to deal with it yet. So he turned and walked upstairs to the library. Cautiously he opened the door and peeked inside. Nothing was changed, to his big relief._Apparently she had no time to decorate this room, luckily. _He breathed a sigh of relief and sat by the spinning wheel, starting to spin. He definitely had to clear his mind.

**: : . . . : :**

Belle put her hands in the bag again. It was empty. "I'm so sorry birds, but I don't have more…" she said appologicatly, although obviously birds couldn't understand her. She hid the pouch to the pocket of her cloak and reached for the shovel. It was still snowing and recently shoveled places were now slightly covered by new snowflakes, so she shouldn't waste more time if she didn't want to start everything again.

She had barely resumed the work, when she heard something. She looked around. The birds already flew away, and she hadn't noticed anyone. She decided that she misheard, so she ignored that and came back to work. But then she heard the noise again, now coming from behind the castle. She had no idea what it was. Maybe just the wind? Or maybe it was one of Rumplestiltskin's jokes? _If it's him, I definitely won't let him scare me!_Determined, she grabbed the shovel like a sword and started to walk alongside the castle's wall. She came from behind the corner and quickly glanced around. Again, she didn't notice anyone or anything, but it was already quite dark, so she decided to walk a bit more yet, just to be sure that no one was there.

She had took only a few steps, when she heard a crackle, like sound of crushing ice. She felt the ground slump from under her feet. Suddenly her legs made contact with something liquid and then the rest of her body made contact too and were surrounded by terrible pain, like if million spikes pierced into her body. After that there was a stroke in something hard. Belle felt dull, radiating pain in back of her head. She opened her eyes, which she apparently closed earlier, and looked ahead. She could see only a fuzzy shape, like from under the water surface. She couldn't breathe… She tried to push herself from the bottom to get closer to the surface, but something was holding her in place by her ankle. She reached it with her hand. It was something like a robe or seaweed… She tried to unhook it, but wasn't able to. She had no strength. She needed air… She looked at the water surface once again and noted stars reflecting on it. But quickly the stars transformed into nothingness and there was only blackness…

**: : . . . : :**

Rumple finished spinning another piece of gold and stopped the wheel for a second. He started to listen. It was quiet. Too quiet.

He walked down and carefully peeked to the living room. Empty. He stepped back to the hall and peeked outside. Next to the door he noted a broom, but there was no sign of the girl. He stood at the doorstep and looked around. It was dusk already, but thanks to the clear sky full of stars and the full moon the area was quite bright. Because of that he managed to notice footprints on the snow. They were partially covered, but it was still visible where they lead.

For a moment he considered whether to come back inside and just wait for her, maybe she was still shoveling snow… But on the other hand it was horribly cold outside.

"Belle?!" he called out and waited a moment, listening intently. He didn't hear anything however, not only not any answer, but not even the slightest sound. He looked at the footprints again and started to follow them, suddenly touched by foreboding.

They didn't lead to the gates, so she hadn't escaped. _So where the hell is she?! _He passed the corner and slowly looked around. He was not able to noticed anything, when suddenly his vision had been caught by something.

He approached closer.

Covered by a little layer of fluff, was laying on the ground a shovel. Rumple made one more step, looking down and he froze. There was Belle's limp body laying on the bottom of the pond.

Not thinking for a second, he jumped into the icy water and pulled the girl to the surface. Crouching on snow, he gently laid her on his knee, and checked her pulse. _Weak, but it is… _He exhaled heavily, trying to calm down a little and shook her body gently, hoping to wake her. After a while she half-opened her eyes and started to cough, spluttering the water. Then she fell into unconsciousness again. Her brief moment of consciousness didn't put him at ease at all, and he immediately transported them to the living room, not caring anymore about the decorations.

Belle was freezing, her body cold and without color, and her nostrils covered by a thin layer of ice. Rumple felt panicked. He could have do many things by magic, but none spell would be helpful in such a situation. He had to rely on a traditional methods and this was something he felt uncertain with.

He rose and, taking Belle in his arms, he carefully settled her on the rug before the fireplace, and kneeled next to her, his steadying arms still protectively around her. He knew he had to warm her, make her pulse get stronger, and make her wake up. _But how? Think, think! _He scanned her with focused eyes. _Her clothes are soaking… _He made a obvious observation and narrowed his brow. Tentatively he took off her cloak and shoes, but there was still her soaked dress and undergarments. He was torn. Maybe covering her with a blanket would have been enough…? _No… she still would be freezing from wetness… _He decided to act, there was no time for doubts.

He sat next to Belle, leaning her back to his front and he conjured up a blanket. Carefully, he covered her with it, making sure she was covered completely. Then he waved his hand and her clothes disappeared from her body. Gently he started to rub his hands along her shoulders and arms, hoping this will warm her faster.

With time his efforts seemed to work. Belle's skin slowly started to restore her usual hue and the ice on her nostrils had disappeared completely. Hopefully he touched her pulse point on her neck and breathed with relief, letting himself smile, when he felt her pulse getting stronger.

Now he only had to wait until she woke.

**: : . . . : : **

He had no idea how long they were sitting like that. And truly, he didn't care. He felt guilty. He sent her outside in such a terrible weather and instead of reacting to her long absence, his was spinning, just like that. And she was laying there, without oxygen, slowly freezing on death… _You idiot! You damn idiot, you could have lost her! _And he suddenly felt he didn't want to lose her. She had become a part of his life, brought so much light in it, so much warmth, so much pleasant feelings… And he couldn't imagine losing that. It was stupid, he never felt like that about anyone, well, except for his son. So what was so special about her?

He sighed and looked at her. Everything was special about her.

She was sitting sideways before him, covered in fluffy blanket, resting against his chest, his one arm wrapped around her to prevent her from falling. She slept, so sweetly and peacefully… He eyed her calm, steady breath and noted that from time to time the corners of her mouth were twitching slightly.

Suddenly her eyes opened and she jerked so rapidly that the blanket slid a little aside. She opened her mouth soundlessly and gazed around with terrified eyes. Although her sudden waking up made his startle, he quickly recovered and grabbed her shoulders firmly, making her look at him.

"It's okay, you're safe now" he tried to reassure her, and hated that his voice was slightly shaky. Why did he care about this girl so much?!

Her scared eyes were now locked with his concerned ones and he loosened his grip a little, while repeating his reassuring words, slower and softer now.

For a long moment Belle was just staring at him, her fearful expression now changed into blank one.

In one second she was looking at him like not sure if this isn't just a dream, and in the next second she burst into tears, crying hysterically and clinging to him.

Rumplestiltskin stiffened and held his breath. She was so close that he could feel shape of her bare breaths, rising up and falling down following her shallow breath. His body started to respond and he almost snarled from irritation. He wasn't a damn teenager, he was three hundred year old creature and his body was reacting like if it didn't belong to him. But she was so beautiful, even all in tears… _Tears! _He focused on that. She was crying, and he should have reassure her, not thinking about her breaths!

Hesitantly he embraced her with both his arms and slowly started to stroke her back in smoothing way. He knew this could calm person. It was calming Bae, when he had nightmares after her mother left…

They were like that for several minutes, maybe hours, he had no idea. Eventually her breath became slow, her body stopped shaking and she was only sobbing quietly. He was still embracing her, rubbing her back slowly, and unconsciously his mind went back to previous thoughts. He could feel her now warm body and this made him feel warm, but to his irritation, not in place he would welcome that, especially not right now.

He had to stop this, he had to go away for a while, because his damn body was betraying him and he was afraid she will soon feel that and then surely she would freak out.

So he pushed her away gently and corrected the blanket, insistently trying to not look down, instead staring at her face, now red and swollen from all the crying. But, God, she was so beautiful…

She looked into his eyes, and he was not able to suppress the urge to stroke her cheek. So he did that, moving his palm down and up her right cheek, and felt his heart melting when she didn't flinch. Instead she closed her eyes and leaned into the contact... And his body was responding again. He had to flee, now! He withdrawn his hand abruptly and when she opened her eyes, looking at him again, he smiled slightly in a reassuring way and rose to his feet. "Wait here, I'll right back" he said and before she could say anything, he left the room, trying to walk instead of running.

**: : . . . : :**

In the kitchen he started to prepare the tea. He could use magic for that, but he needed to buy time to cool himself. The image of Belle just stack in his head, refusing to leave. He had such and urge to kiss her, to kiss every bit of her body, holding her in his arms and never let go, that he felt infuriated with himself. He couldn't let himself be distracted, not when he was so close to his goal! But what if Belle could be more… more than just a distraction? What if he were to tell her his plans and she would help him? Stayed with him? _No… You are being stupid and naïve Rumplestiltskin! _he scolded himself just after the hopeful thought appeared in his mind. He was good at his own, not caring for anyone, just focusing on his task of finding his son. He couldn't trust anyone, especially women. Women were treacherous little creatures, pretending to care and love, and then ripping your heart out and crushing it. He wanted to hold that thought, but his heart was strongly protesting. Belle wasn't like that. She was… she was pure. Honest. Innocent. She was the epitome of good. But was she really? Maybe now, but Regina was good too, and what had she became now? And this was mostly his fault. That's what he did with people who stayed in his presence for too long. They were devoured by evil.

He cared for Belle, he hated to admit that, but he did care for her. He couldn't destroy her, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself for that. So he had to stay away. He would not destroy her. So no matter how much his body was demanding that, he would not touch her. Besides, she would be disgusted if he would even try. Surely she would be… What women would want a touch, a caress from something like him? Well, Cora did, but she was only playing with him, never really cared about him... He shook his head at the bad memory and focused on Belle again.

He remembered that she had a handsome betrothed back in her home. She surely longed to came back to him. He growled at the thought. He ripped her from her true love, but he had no intention of returning her. She was his now, he will not give her away to this knight, love or not love, he didn't care. He was possessive and he felt possessive about her. He wanted her only for himself. It wasn't good, but it was how he felt. _Damn, I am going to destroy her…_

**: : . . . : :**

When he walked into living room, Belle was still sitting by the fireplace, looking mesmerized into flames. Rumple took a deep breath and approached her, giving her the teacup. Belle took it somehow hesitantly and looked at him questioningly. Right, the Dark One preparing tea is not something common...

"It's a hot tea dearie. Can't allow you to chill and catch a flu, can I? Who would clean the castle then?" he said, trying to sound harsh and serious. But Belle smiled sincerely and gave him her thanks. And again with this look on her face, like she could see right through him, right through his mask. Well, maybe she did.

"Sit down… please" she pleaded sweetly, when Rumple was still standing motionless just staring at her, and she patted the spot next to her. His cowardly side told him to run away and hid in his safe chamber, but this time his cowardly side didn't win. He slowly and gracefully sat down in a proper distance from her. Belle grinned at him and moved closer. They were now sitting arm by arm, in pleasant silence, Belle slowly sipping her tea.

When the cup was finally empty, she put it aside and leaned on his shoulder. She felt safe in his embrace, his closeness not intimidating her at all.

And he saved her life. Again. And he took care of her. Again. She felt like a damsel in distress, but he wasn't making any remarks. He was caring for her. And it was very nice.

Suddenly she realized something. She was naked. Covered by blanket, by naked beneath it. Certainly she hadn't done that herself, so… She jumped away from him and looked in his eyes suspiciously. "You… undressed me…?"

He seemed to be ashamed and startled, his usual self-confident posture now shy and his eyes wide, avoiding her own. "I… I had to… To warm you… I…" he stuttered, fidgeting and looking everywhere, expect for her. "I didn't touch you, I… I wasn't even looking… You have my word" he added quietly and shyly, that she could barely hear him.

She suddenly felt stupid. She didn't mean it like that… Of course she knew he wouldn't touch her, the thought that he could do something like that didn't even cross her mind. She wasn't angry at him, although he had interpreted her tone differently. She was simply embarrassed by possibility that he saw her body. It was silly, really, but the fact was that never any man saw her. Not that she'd really mind Rumple looking at her, because she didn't, but she preferred to be awake then. But he said he didn't and she believed it. Probably he just used magic to undress her... And she scared him now, in his doubting mind he probably took this as an accusation. His self-loathing was really annoying at times. And now he looked like ready to flee at any second. Just perfect.

Her face softened, it was tensed by her reproving thoughts about herself, but for sure it looked different in his eyes. Slowly and carefully, so not to scare him more, she moved closer to him and when he wanted to pull away, she grabbed his hand, using her second to gently turn his head so to he looked at her. "I'm sorry. I know you wouldn't do that, I didn't mean to you think otherwise" she said with the mildest possible tone and with small, calming smile. Then she leaned on his shoulder again, just like if nothing happened, and still holding his hand in her own, she started to gently stroking his palm, mused about the weird, but pleasant texture of it.

Rumple was stiff at first, like he was still expecting that she would jump away from him again or just raise up and run to her room. But with time, when she did none of it, he started to slowly relax and hesitantly he wrapped his arm around Belle's shoulders, pulling her little closer.

In some moment she felt her eyes closing and it was difficult to keep them open. She felt so sleepy and tired, the day's events finally affecting at her. She yawned deeply and loudly, and Rumplestiltskin wriggled nervously. He looked at her intently and her cheeks became scarlet under his scrutiny. Suddenly he stood up and stretched out his hand. "You don't intend to sleep over here, do you, Belle?" He asked and Belle grinned, not only because of his nice gesture, but mostly because he used her name instead of scornful 'dearie'.

With unceasing grin, she accepted his hand, with her second holding the blanket in place. When she was standing on her feet, she shifted the blanket to cover herself better, although it wasn't easy to do using just one hand, as Rumple was still holding her second one.

Without even looking at her or letting go of her hand, he started to walk alongside the living room. But they turned in a way to the hall, not the dungeons, what unsettled Belle. "Where are we going?" she tried to keep her voice steady and was happy that it didn't fail her.

"Let's we say that it's… a surprise" he said and giggled maniacally, what gave her shiver. She trusted him, she repeated to herself, but where he could possibly be taking her?

They walked up the stairs, then turned to the corridor with his bedroom at the end. _Surely he's not going… _She stopped automatically, her hand trying to freed, but his grasp only became firmer.

"Don't worry, we are not heading to my chamber" he laughed, but she felt hurt in his tone and she felt sting in her heart. He was so good for her today, and she was only making some stupid insinuations causing him to think that she didn't trust him…

She wanted to apologize, but he stopped suddenly and let go of her hand. She noted that they've been standing before the door, the one from few which were locked. Rumple waved his hand and the door opened. Her natural curiosity won her uncertainty and she walked inside.

What she saw left her completely speechless. She was standing in a huge bedroom, with walls painted in a light pink, a beautiful four-poster bed and a large wardrobe standing at the right wall. There were a few windows here, high and without bars. On them were hanging an opened red curtains and under one of the windows was standing a blue settee. There was also a long blue and orange rug, stretching from the door to the second end of the room. The floor was a polished stone, shining from the light of multiple candlesticks hanging on the walls. Opposite the bed were doors, as Belle assumed leading to the bathroom. This room was really stunning, much bigger and much more cozy than the bedroom in her father's castle and she found she really like it, the room being very in her taste.

But why they were here? It couldn't be what is seemed to be, right? He surely wasn't just giving her this room, like he gave her the library earlier…? Or was he?

She looked suspiciously at Rumplestiltskin. "Why did you bring me here?"

"And why do you think?" he rolled his eyes. "It's your new room".

"But… But why…?"

"Because it's my whim! If you don't like it, you can always come back to the dungeon!" He tilted his head at the side, looking like a dog, and Belle had do stifle a giggle. "Do you prefer the dungeon?" He asked with such seriousness that she wasn't able to suppress the giggle anymore.

"No, of course not!" she half said, half laughed and his face turned into amused expression, before he could hide that.

She sobered after few seconds, restraining to only grinning and looked at him with all the gratitude she felt. "Thank you" she said and before she knew it, she was standing right before him on her tiptoes and kissing his cheek, throwing her hands on his neck. It became so normal for her, that she was doing it somehow unconsciously now.

"Yes, yes…" he murmured when she pulled away, and he waved his hand dismissively. For a second he looked like he wanted to say something else, but he gave up the idea. He only cast her a glance once more, like if making sure if she is truly pleased and then he left.

**: : . . . : :**

Belle had slipped out of the blanket and opened the wardrobe. There were hanging her two dresses, the blue one and the golden one, she also noted a green traveling cloak, few shoes and a winter cloak. Hidden a little deeper were some undergarments and a few nightgowns. Belle took out a light yellow nightgown and dressed in it. Vaguely she wondered if he bought them for her or if they already were in the castle. And the room was so clean, did he clean it?

She yawned again and felt that the only thing she was capable of now, was going to the bed.

When already buried under soft sheets, she closed her eyes and for a moment she was afraid that the past day will bring her nightmares. But she was too tired to worried about that and quickly she fell asleep.

She had no nightmares though. Her dream was pleasant, showing her images with her and Rumple sitting by the fireplace, when she was snuggling with him, feeling the heat of his body, and his gentle hand rubbing her back, reassuring her…

She then truly felt at home...


End file.
